One social media account said the restaurant’s CEO should “face charges for this crime against humanity.”
American restaurant chain Cracker Barrel Old Country Store faced plummeting shares and a social media firestorm on Thursday after it announced a change to its logo.
Extreme conservative accounts, including that of Donald Trump Jr., accused the simplified yellow and brown logo, which no longer features a man leaning against a barrel or the slogan “Old Country Store”, of being an indication the chain had “gone woke.”
The term has, in recent years, been co-opted by emboldened white nationalists within the GOP under President Donald Trump to refer negatively to programs, policies or pieces of media that promote diversity and inclusion, rather than focusing on heterosexual, Christian white men within MAGA’s perspective on U.S. history and values.
The backlash to the restaurant’s brand refresh follows a series of actions by the Trump coalition to erase and, in some cases, criminalize the pursuit of DEI short for diversity, equity and inclusion. One conservative X account on Thursday wrote that the Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino “should face charges for this crime against humanity.”
Shares of the American comfort food chain fell more than 11% following the announcement. The logo change is part of a “strategic transformation” started in May of last year to revitalize the brand. The revamp also includes updates to the decor and interior of dozens of restaurants, as well as some menu items.
In March, the company said it would maintain its “rich history of country hospitality” and “authentic charm that has made the brand a beloved destination for generations of families.”
We believe in the goodness of country hospitality, a spirit that has always defined us. Our story hasnt changed. Our values havent changed, Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Moore wrote in a press release.
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Some of its comfort meals like “farm fresh scrambled eggs and buttermilk biscuits” served as the inspiration behind the “hues of a refreshed color palette,” the release said.
“WTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??! the president’s son wrote on X on Wednesday in response to a post claiming the company’s CEO had “scrapped a beloved American aesthetic and replaced it with sterile, soulless branding.”
The poster also criticized the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts, describing them as a “DEI regime.”
Cracker Barrel faced homophobic, right-wing outrage in 2023 when it made social media posts celebrating Pride Month.
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